authomatic soil moisture sensing water irrigation system...

LPU-Laguna Journal of Engineering and Computer Studies

Vol. 3 No.1 September 2015

173

AUTHOMATIC SOIL MOISTURE SENSING WATER IRRIGATION SYSTEM

WITH WATERLEVEL INDICATOR 1Edmond B. Ecija, 1Marien M. Medalla, 1Ronna Fe N. Morales,

1Chrizz Ann P. Platon, 1Jeaneza A. Rodrigo 1Undergraduate Student, Electronics Engineering Department

Lyceum of the Philippines University-Laguna (LPU-L), Laguna, Philippines

ABSTRACT

This paper involves the development and formation of automatic irrigation system that uses sensor that determines soil moisture (by soil moisture sensor), water level indicator also its pumping system that aims to deliver the needed water based on the assigned soil moisture value. This paper also discusses the prototype design of microcontroller based on water irrigation which detects a soil if watering is required then the water will be maintained at the constant level. If the specific area is irrigated too much with water, there are possibilities that the plant may die due to excessive irrigation. The proposed system uses a microcontroller basically a platform device called ARDUINO where sensors are connected in its internal and external ports. Whenever there is a variation in moisture content of the soil these sensors will determine the change and will give an interrupt signal to the microcontroller and eventually will send signal to the relay driver and thus the water pump is now activated. This irrigation system also includes a water level indicator in the water tank which will indicate the water capacity of the reservoir itself whether it is low level or high level. This thesis paper will allow garden owners and other household areas or certain facilities in the efficient, convenient and effective method of water irrigation and may direct future research on the development of more advanced water irrigation system.

Keywords: Soil Moisture Sensor, Microcontroller, Moisture Content, Automatic Irrigation.

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

In our day to day life, water is very

essential. It is considered to be basic need of

human beings, animals, plants etc. But now

days, water shortage is becoming one of the

biggest problem in the world and there should

be a solution in this kind of problem, it is no

other than water conservation. We have

different methods developed for the

conservation of water.

Plants are also essential to human life. The

food we eat, medicine, fiber which can be

manufactured to fabric and clothing can also be

provided by plants. It also acts as settling

chambers for particulate pollutions. Like us,

plants also need water in order to make their

food. Water is considered one of the basic

needs for plant growth. But we must consider

such potential situations in watering our plants

such as watering too much, too little and of

course, just enough for us to sustain and

maintain the plant growth. Because keeping

your plant properly watered is important to its

health.

In accordance to the stated facts about

water, the researchers thought of an idea of an

automatic water irrigation system, conservation

project which can also be useful and be able to



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contribute to the environment. This project

design study to focus on soil condition of a

certain grass/plantation area and determine

when the plants need to acquire adequate

water.

Soil moisture is an important parameter in

monitoring of plant growth. Since soil moisture

determines the amount of liquid or water

content of the soil, the researchers will develop

a device that will determine the moisture level

of the soil that will trigger a water irrigation

system to release and gives sufficient water for

the plants to reach their full growth.

Statement of the Problem

Manual irrigation system is simple and

cheap but is more labor intensive and wastes

water. As water is brought into the system

manually, this requires high labor input,

moreover it is important to check the systems

regularly to improve the production and avoid

water loss on the plantation. Due to water costs

and increasing water demands, gardeners

need to be concerned about conservation.

Objectives of the Study

The main objective is to develop an

automated irrigation system by implementing a

controlled technique to meet soil moisture

requirement that will contribute to water

conservation and minimize the labor in the field

of gardening.

Specifically, the study aims to:

1. Develop a program using a microcontroller

that will process the data from the sensor

and control the whole irrigation system;

2. Identify the suitable amount of water to be

delivered that will assist in maintaining the

level of soil moisture monitor the level of

water tank which stores the water that will

aid in the irrigation system; and,

3. Test the effect of varying moisture content

of the soil to the plants with the following

indications, at lower than optimized level, at

optimized level, and at higher than

optimized level.

Scope and Limitation

The project focused solely in constructing a

water irrigation system with a device that will

determine the moisture condition of the soil and

will trigger the water irrigation system to

operate. The drip hose will automatically

release adequate amount of water if the

moisture sensor detects that the soil is already

dry and lacks water.

The project can automatically determine if

the soil-moisture is below the minimum

allowable limit, ensures plants are not affected

by moisture stress at critical growing times,

decreases human intervention, will be using a

microcontroller to control the right amount of

water to release based on the moisture content

of the soil, uses a solar panel as the power

source of the system, can simply determine the

water level condition of the water tank by water

level indicator.



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The project is limited to be used for small

area garden design, focuses primarily on soil-

moisture content as the basis for the irrigation

system, no other sensor will be implemented,

maintenance of the system still requires human

intervention to keep irrigation on course,

sensitive to weather condition which may

interrupt the effectiveness of the soil moisture

sensor, manual refill of the water tank to store

and establish adequate amount of water

enough for irrigation also study will not cover

about Fluid Mechanics.

METHODOLOGY

2.1a Arduino Uno Microcontroller (short

description)

The Arduino Uno is a microcontroller board

based on the ATmega328. It has 14 digital

input/output pins (of which 6 can be used as

PWM outputs), 6 analog inputs, a

16 MHz ceramic resonator, a USB connection,

a power jack, an ICSP header, and a reset

button. It contains everything needed to support

the microcontroller; simply connect it to a

computer with a USB cable or power it with a

AC-to-DC adapter or battery to get started.

"Uno" means one in Italian and is named to

mark the upcoming release of Arduino 1.0. The

Uno and version 1.0 will be the reference

versions of Arduino, moving forward. The Uno

is the latest in a series of USB Arduino boards,

and the reference model for the Arduino

platform [1]

2.2. Block Diagram

Figure 2.1 Block Diagram of Automatic

Irrigation System

Figure 2.1 is the block diagram of the

Automatic Irrigation System. In here, the power

source provided by the Solar panel is being

stored in a 12 V battery, and then it is

converted to DC –to-AC by the inverter. The

value of the conditions for soil moisture (if it is

Wet, Dry and Soggy Wet), is encoded in the

MCU which is a platform device called Arduino

Uno. When the soil moisture sensor detects the

conditions of the soil, the MCU will power up

the water pump and delivers the right amount

of water to the plants. It also has RTC (Real

Time Clock) that is responsible for the

scheduling process of the irrigation system. For

the water source, there is a water level

indicator installed and indicates if the water is in

high or already in low level.



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2.3. System Flowchart

Figure 2.2 System Flowchart

Figure 2.2 illustrates the flowchart of the

automatic irrigation system. As the Arduino

detects the soil condition of the soil given its

designated ranges, it will send an interrupt

signal to the relay drivers to switch On/OFF the

water pump and deliver the water to the plants.

The water level indicator is also programmed in

the microcontroller where it will detect if it is in

low level or high level condition.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Project Design

Figure 3.1 The Prototype

Project Description

The project composes of Arduino Board,

Driver Module, Relay Module, Real Time Clock

Module, Hygrometer (Soil Moisture Sensor),

Water Level Sensor and Power Supply.

The plantation area has 3 plots with

dimension of 10m x 1m. Each plot has

individual drip hose and water valve which

delivers water to the plants once the

hygrometer detects the dryness of the soil and

triggers the relay. The hygrometer is located at

the center of the single plot and is able to

sense the soil moisture level of that whole

single plot.



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The system uses a single channel relay

driver. This relay driver serves as the automatic

switch of the system to trigger or turns On and

Off the water pump which is connected to the

water valve and drip hose. It will be using Real

Time Clock (RTC) that is responsible for turning

on and off the water pump based on the given

time of schedule. The RTC provides real time

function which enables the system to cope up

with the actual earth time upon shutting down.

The power supply unit (PSU) is an

integrated 10-W, 12Vdc output solar panel and

300-W, 12Vdc input and 220Vac output inverter

backed up with a solar battery. The PSU serves

as source of the entire system, including the

exterior components like water pump and also

the Arduino Board

Properties of the Project

The project is most applicable to garden

owners where this enhanced irrigation system

will help to conveniently utilize their crops

without monitoring the soil condition most of the

time. If installed and programmed properly, this

will also help and can be an important

instrument in conservation of water

consumption which can reduce the excessive

use of water in gardening purposes.

Project Capabilities and Functions

The system is capable of sensing the

moisture present in the soil, the level of water in

the water tank and supplying water by means

of water pump into the soil. The sensors are

being controlled by the microcontroller unit

which is the arduinouno r3. There are set-

points associated to the system wherein LED

indicator will be triggered on and off according

to the readings of the soil moisture sensor. The

set-point is based on the converted digital

inputs that are processed by the microcontroller

unit.

The system has a timing system by the use

of the real-time clock module. Once it meets

the right time and when the moisture of soil is

low, it will trigger the relay switch that will turn

on the water pump and the water will be supply

to the plant by means of dripping method.

Manual switching of the water pump is also

included to the system wherein the user can

switch on and switch off the pump without

meeting any conditions. Manual switching uses

a toggle switch to turn on and off the pump.

Tools and Methodologies of the System

Table 1. Soil Moisture Sensor Readings for

the Conditions of the Soil

Table 1 shows the readings of the soil

moisture sensor relative to the conditions of the

soil. The soil moisture sensor is responsible for

indicating the condition of the soil if it is Wet,

Soil Moisture Sensor Readings

Conditions Range

Wet Less than 550

Soggy 550-800

Dry 800 and up



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Soggy Wet and dry in order to know its water

requirement which is programmed in the

microcontroller.

Figure 3.5.1 The soil condition is dry

Figure 3.5.2 The soil condition is wet

Figure 3.5.3 The soil condition is soggy

Table 2.Non – Scheduling Irrigation for 3 plots (Manual)

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

Cycles Per Day

2

2

2

Maximum Runtime per

Cycle (min/plot)

5

10

15

Maximum Runtime per

Day (min/plot)

10

20

30

Amount of Water

Released (liters/plot)

4.25

8.5

12.75

Table 3.Scheduling Irrigation for 3 plots

Trial

1 Trial

2 Trial

3 Trial

4 Trial 5

Cycles Per Day

1

1

1

1

1

Maximum Runtime per

Cycle (min/plot)

6.116

7.467

7.2

6.067

7.517

Maximum Runtime per

Day (min/plot)

6.116

7.467

7.2

6.067

7.517

Amount of Water

Released (liters/plot)

5.199

6.347

6.120

5.157

6.389

Table 2 and 3 shows the daily runtime

period and amount of water released every

cycle of irrigation. It determines the condition of

the soil moisture level depending on the time it

takes to irrigate the whole plot. During each

trial, the proponents were able to test the

runtime period of each cycle of each condition

of the soil moisture. According to the table

shown above, the initial condition of the soil

moisture in every trial is below optimized level,

meaning, the soil is dry. After several minutes,

the soil moisture varies and obtains the three

conditions of the soil moisture after irrigation

which is below optimized level, at optimized

level, and above optimized level.

CONCLUSION

The development of our project which is

the Automatic Soil moisture Sensing Water

Irrigation System with water level indicator is

the device that will provide the needed water

when the soil moisture sensor detects if the soil

is dry.



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The development of program is obtained to

operate the automatic irrigation system, given

the scheduling process that is provided by the

RTC, the amount of suitable water(based on

range of its soil moisture) needed to deliver for

the plants is being controlled so there is no

excess water , which mainly contributes to

conservation of water.

RECOMMENDATION

Based on the gathered results and

obtained data, the following recommendations

were drawn: The researchers recommend that

this research may be used as reference for

further development of new methods and

devices for watering and protection system of

the plantation, such as : adding a CCTV

camera to monitor the daily watering of plants

and animal disturbances, adding a light post

within the vicinity or corners of the plantation

area, adding and mixing of fertilizer to water

which may flow in every plot that can help the

plants grow faster and lastly ,it can expanding

the system and study the implementation of the

system in a large scale plantation.

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